Reflexiones y Conexiones in Eighth Grade Spanish
Eighth graders have spent the majority of the year working with the four main tenses of the present, immediate future, preterite, and the imperfect to be versatile in understanding and communicating about the present, past, and future. As the high school process has wrapped up, many students prepare for language placement tests. In preparation for this, students practice mini conversations with one another to prepare for the oral part of the placement tests by asking and responding to simple questions about their lives.
The interview questions they ask one another are largely around “reflecting” on their tenure as Live Oak students and “connecting” with one another on shared experiences to practice communicating about themselves in the target language. Question topics range from asking and responding about their lives, growing up, hobbies, daily activities, and interests. Students discuss different interests from when they were younger to now thus comparing and contrasting through different tenses and giving them a fun chance to remember things from when they were younger. (Middle schoolers are all about nostalgia!) This will be followed up by a final project of students creating a digital yearbook of their time at Live Oak highlighting the two main past tenses they have been studying.
The main objective for the high school placement test preparation and final project is twofold. To first review the year in a culminating activity focusing on those four tenses and prepare them for the next step of high school. And second, to give students a chance to just pause and reflect on their memories, experiences, and growth here in a fun and meaningful way! This is not just a goal for preparation for high school, but also in cultivating lifelong learners in a language and skill they have been constructing in their time at Live Oak.
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